Lake Nottely Fishing Report – May 2008

Nottely: Level: Down 3.9 feet below full pool. Temp: Mid 60s. Clarity: The main lake is clear, but the backs of the creeks are stained.

Bass: Good, according to Nathan Lewis. “They have been doing pretty well with topwater — things like Pop-Rs. Stripers and bass have been schooling pretty good in front of the beach near Point 3. They are also catching bass on Texas-rigged green-pumpkin worms or on flukes fished under boat docks. For largemouths, look in the backs of the pockets, and throw a buzzbait or floating worm,” Nathan said.

Stripers: Nottely guide Jeremy Seabolt said the recent fishing has been excellent. “We have been putting 15 to 30 fish a morning in the boat. We had five over 30 pounds and numerous fish in the 20s.” He has been fishing between Point 5 and Point 7 and using his electronics to locate fish. “The bigger fish are up on the banks early in the morning,” Jeremy said. “The smaller fish are out over about 40 feet of water.” Bigger baits are taking bigger fish, he said. “I had a client who was fishing an 18-inch gizzard shad, and he hooked a huge fish — upper 40s or low 50s — but the fish pulled off.” The hybrids are coming up near the dam in the afternoon. You can catch them on Pencil Poppers or a Yozuri Banana Boat — either the 4-inch or 6-inch size. A Zoom Super Fluke will catch fish, too. The majority of the stripers are still down on the big body of the lake from Point 7 down to the dam, said Nottely guide Josh Garrison. “The stripers still haven’t started up the river, but once the males leave the big body of the lake, look for the big females to follow. The fish have been really active in the mornings and the evenings with double-digit catches, but mostly it’s the smaller males. These schoolies have been hitting all sizes of bluebacks pulled on planers and freelines from 10 feet deep to the surface, with larger fish coming on bigger baits on downlines. All the normal topwater baits including Red Fins, Sammys, Pencil Poppers and flukes are working great. During the midday check the major points especially on the windy side during the higher lunar feeding times.”